Habit 1: Reading word by word

This is how children are taught to read, but when you concentrate on separate words you often miss the overall concept of what is being said. People who read each word as a distinct unit comprehend less than those who read faster by “chunking” words together in blocks.

Solution:

Speed reading involves reading blocks of words at one time and comprehending the meaning of the word group. Think of viewing a digital image. There are millions of pixels that only make sense when they are seen together. In the same way, our brains can comprehend ideas better when it takes in a group of words at one time.

Practice expanding the number of words that you read at a time. You may also find that you can increase the number of words read by holding the text a little further from your eyes. The more words you can read in each block, the faster you will read!